The serum
fructosamine test gives an average blood glucose level reading for the last two weeks.
The best current way to rule out stress - induced high sugar in cats is to measure blood
fructosamine levels.
Veterinarians sometimes avoid this pitfall by measuring the concentration of a molecule
called fructosamine in the blood.
In addition, 35 percent of patients
with fructosamine levels higher than the cut - off, had no history of diabetes, indicating increased risks in patients who might not otherwise have been identified.
Single
fructosamine measurements should be interpreted in the light of clinical signs, body weight, and blood glucose concentration.
If there is a sudden return of polyuria (PU), polydipsia (PD), or polyphagia, perform either a follow - up glucose curve or
fructosamine check.
Hypoglobulinemia will result in
decreased fructosamine concentration — consult the laboratory performing the analysis as to whether a correction is required and whether this has been done.
Single fructosamine measurements should be interpreted in the light of clinical signs of diabetes, body weight, and blood glucose concentration.
To submit blood samples to a laboratory, use red - top serum tubes
for fructosamine and EDTA, lavender - top whole - blood tubes for GHb.
Uncontrolled or poorly controlled diabetes (on rare occasions, prolonged periods of stress keep your pet's blood glucose levels high enough to give a false - positive
fructosamine result for diabetes).
However,
high fructosamine levels were associated with a greater risk for deep infection, readmission, and reoperation.
The short - term changes detected
by fructosamine are also associated with changes in cytokine levels, another factor in promoting strong immune responses to infection.
Measuring
fructosamine gives a sense of the average blood glucose over the previous couple of weeks.
Rather, they give an idea of glycemic control over a long period:
fructosamine reflects the glycemic control for the previous 2 to 4 weeks and GHb for the prior 2 to 4 months.
Those that don't will have to rely on periodic glucose testing at their veterinarian's office, the services of a house - call veterinarian or
periodic fructosamine tests.
Although fructosamine and GHb are good tools for determining regulation, they will not identify an underlying problem, nor will they replace glucose curves done for therapy adjustments.
The majority of diabetic animals will not always have optimal control of blood glucose,
thus fructosamine concentrations are unlikely to lie entirely within the reference range for normal dogs.
However
elevated fructosamine, a compound that forms in the blood as blood sugar and certain blood proteins combine, is an indicator of persistently high blood sugar.
Currently, the safest and most important test to monitor your diabetic cat's health over time are periodic blood
fructosamine assays (ref) performed twice a year in cat that appear well regulated; more frequently if they don't.
A single measurement of
fructosamine indicates the average glucose concentration over the previous 1 - 2 weeks - not at the moment the blood is withdrawn.
Fructosamine values are not influenced by sudden fluctuations in blood glucose such as stress in nervous pets from the visit to the Veterinary hospital or recent food intake.
The investigators tested the blood levels of a similar glucose - monitoring compound
called fructosamine.
Hyperthyroid cats with diabetes mellitus may have decreased
fructosamine concentrations despite having normal serum protein concentrations.
In order to test its ability to predict patients with a higher risk of complications, Dr. Parvizi and colleagues enrolled 829 patients who had a planned total joint replacement between 2012 and 2013, and assessed their glycemic levels via the traditionally used maker called HbA1c, side by side
with fructosamine.
Because fructosamine and glycated albumin are measures of short - term (2 - 4 week) glucose control and change more rapidly than HbA1c, they could also be useful for monitoring changes in diabetes treatments.
Crenshaw KL, Peterson ME, Moroff SD, Heeb LA:
Serum fructosamine concentration as an index of glycemia in cats with diabetes mellitus and stress hyperglycemia.
So the amount
of fructosamine is a good indicator of your cat's average blood glucose levels over a more extended period of time (1 - 2 weeks).
Low blood albumin protein (hypoalbuminemia) or the presence of an insulin - secreting tumor in your pet's pancreas (insulinoma) can also keep blood
fructosamine levels low.
Fructosamine measures the average glucose levels over a period of several weeks, which can be compared to the baseline levels initially measured.
Our long - term control of blood sugar (as measured by lab testing of glycosylated hemoblobin and
fructosamine) is also improved by intake of green peas.
By using the same relative cut - off level for both HbA1c and
fructosamine (seven percent HbA1c correlated to 292 micromolar / liter of fructosamine) the researchers examined whether patients who tested above these thresholds had higher likelihood of complications.
«Because of its promising role in determining who has poorly controlled glucose levels, we have already begun to use
the fructosamine test, at our institution to determine who is at high risk of complications and allocate resources to optimizing the glycemic control in these patients» said Dr. Parvizi.
«To our knowledge, this is the first study to test whether blood
fructosamine levels could give us better information about glycemic control before surgery,» said Dr. Parvizi.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Minnesota have determined that
the fructosamine tests and a novel assay for glycated albumin may be useful for predicting complications related to diabetes.
The study measured HbA1c,
fructosamine and glycated albumin in blood samples from over 12,000 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study.
«We compared the associations of HbA1c,
fructosamine, and glycated albumin with two of the most important clinical outcomes related to diabetes: retinopathy (eye disease) and kidney disease,» notes lead author Elizabeth Selvin, PhD, MPH, associate professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.